'All-time Rising' Kim Hyo-joo cruises to LPGA's first milestone in 13 years... "Blue Bull" won for the 3rd week in a row

*This content was translated by AI.

It's an all-time upward trend. Kim Hyo-joo (31, Lotte), who is showing off her peak skills in the LPGA Tour, has started off well to win three consecutive tournaments, the first milestone in 13 years.

Kim Hyo-joo tied five birdies and one bogey in the first round of the LPGA Tour Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek Golf Course (par 72) in Las Vegas, Nevada on the 3rd (Korea time) to write a 4-under 68.

After the first day of the match, Kim Hyo-joo tied for fourth along with world No. 2 Nelly Koda of the U.S. and Yan Jing of China. It is only one shot away from the co-leading group with 5-under 67, including Nasa Hataoka, Miyu Yamashita (Japan), and Lauren Coughlin (USA).

Kim Hyo-joo had her best run earlier this season. Kim Hyo-joo, who won the Fortinet Founders Cup and Ford Championship in a row last month, is currently sweeping major LPGA Tour categories. In addition to the season's prize money ($939,640), CME Globe points (1,268) and Player of the Year points (69 points). The world ranking has also risen to third place, the highest individual ranking.

I can even see the milestone. If Kim Hyo-joo wins this tournament, she will build a golden tower of winning three consecutive championships in 13 years since Park In-bee in 2013. In addition, he will become the sixth Korean player to win 10 LPGA Tour titles after Pak Se-ri, Park In-bee, Ko Jin-young, Kim Se-young and Shin Ji-ae.

Kim Hyo-joo, who started at the 10th hole (par 4) on the day, started off anxious by making a bogey from the first hole. However, he immediately reversed the mood by making consecutive birdies at the 11th and 12th holes (par 4). After that, he continued the stable flow and added birdies on the 18th hole (par 5), and in the second half, he maintained the lead by making birdies on the 3rd hole (par 4) and the 5th hole (par 3).

According to LPGA Media, Kim Hyo-joo said, "Honestly, I don't know what went particularly well today, but I think the content was the best among the games I played on this course," adding, "I'm playing in a good rhythm."

"People around me are talking a lot about winning for three consecutive weeks, and I will do my best to finish with good results as usual," he said.

Other Korean players also performed well in this competition. Yoon Na-na, in her second year of the tour, tied for 11th with a 2-under 70, and Ko Jin-young, who entered the field for the first time since getting married last month, tied for 15th with a 1-under 71. Kim Se-young and Im Jin-hee tied for 27th with even-par 72, while Yoo Hae-ran and Hwang Yoo-min finished the first round tied for 44th with 1 over par 73.

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*This content was translated by AI.